FIRST ON 3: McIntyre calls out NBC for editing out "under God" in pledge

WASHINGTON (CBN) -- NBC Universal has apologized to members of Congress for taking the words "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance during the recent U.S. Open.

Reps. Randy Forbes, R-Va., and Mike McIntyre, D-N.C. -- who led the Congressional Prayer Caucus -- joined 106 other members of Congress in expressing their frustration to NBC leaders.

"We live in a society where there are increasing efforts to remove all mention of religion from public life, and we remain dedicated to defending against such attempts," the lawmakers said in a letter to NBC Universal CEO Stephen Burke.

NBC responded, saying the decision to take the words out was made by a small group of people, and was not an ideological decision by the company.

The media giant came under fire after omitting "under God" twice during a June 19 video montage at the U.S. Open golf tournament at the Congressional Country Club near Washington, D.C.

The video included clips of children reciting the pledge and was meant to celebrate patriotism.

The employees involved in editing the pledge were reprimanded. NBC also apologized later in the June 19 broadcast.

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Dear Jeff: I didn't vote for McIntyre either. I never will. He is being praised here on an issue that is a no-brainer for a politician trying desperately to appeal to a conservative voting base. Mike is the type of "leader" who stands behind the crowd to see which way they are going, then leaps in front to "lead" them to where they're already headed. He's got no courage, no vision, and very little credibility. Vote for Ilario Pantano. Use your vote wisely.

You say that the "majority" won't have a problem with it. News flash, this is America, ALL men and women are equal here. If there are people that don't believe in God you need to respect that decision. If you want to go to a country where the governments support and endorse religions, move to the Middle East.

The Pledge of Allegiance should go back to the form it was BEFORE the words Under God were added in the 50's. Why were they added? To fight the spread of communism.

Great job Mr.Mcintyre.It's about time someone stood up to the people who are trying to drag the USA down.As for NBC this should never have happened .There should have been upper echalon people supervising what is and what is not put on the air.They were trying to follow the will of a minority who are trying to take over the will of the majority,that still believe in God and Country.

Oh, no! Someone forgot to push religion on the general public! The shame! It's not like religion can stand on its own, it needs to leverage government to push its beliefs!

After all, this is a Christian nation, at least after the McCarthy paranoia, so screw the rest of the country! After all, as our founding fathers said, all men are created equal, as long as you're Christian, or at least believe in some sort of god, except of the Muslim god. \sarcasm

We live in a country that was founded on the belief of God. It is just sad that a company as big as NBC cannot accept that fact. If NBC thinks they offend anyone by adding the words "under God" to the pledge of allegiance, maybe they should take a look at the number of people who attend church (and believe in God) on any given Sunday morning. I am sure if they were worried about the number of people they offend by these two words....UNDER GOD, the words would not have been left out, because the number of people who believe in God would surely out weigh the number that do not. What were they (NBC) thinking???? America will always believe in God....so let's just make it simple....if you don't like the words "under God" and this country, you can always leave. That includes you too, NBC!!!

1892
"I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

1892 to 1923
"I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

1923 to 1924
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

1924 to 1954
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

Adding God wasn't until later. The founding fathers separated church and state. If you don't like that fact, get out of the country because we founded America for religious freedom. Founding fathers were atheist.

The 1796 Treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was "not in any sense founded on the Christian religion" This treaty was written under the presidency of George Washington and signed under the presidency of John Adams.

I'm Christian, but I'm also an American. Being an American I recognize what this country was founded on. Freedom of religion and separation of church and state.

Maybe the folks who took it out were aware that the pledge is to the flag and the country, not to any spiritual leader, natural or supernatural.

"We live in a country that was founded on the belief of God." This nation was founded by a group of people sick of state-sponsored religion al a England and the Anglican Church.

Christ taught tolerance of others and to love people for their differences. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, that you should worry about your stuff and let others be. I'm not seeing a lot of that here.

"...maybe they should take a look at the number of people who attend church (and believe in God) on any given Sunday morning" If Jesus judged the relevance of a decision by how many people agreed with it at the time, you would not have ever heard of him.